US President Donald Trump said that he does not believe reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned in advance by Egypt or the United Arab Emirates of the October 7 Hamas attack, in an interview with Time Magazine on Thursday.
"I think if he would have known, he would have done something about it," Trump said. "Certainly, he would have had people at least alert [him]."
"You know, he's not going to forget about it. That was a terrible day," he said.
Trump also refused to endorse Netanyahu directly in the upcoming elections during the interview, steering the conversation away three times when asked directly whether the prime minister should have another term in office.
Trump refuses to answer if Israelis should vote for Netanyahu
In one such instance, when directly asked if Israelis should give Netanyahu another term, Trump instead answered that Israel "wouldn't have been able to defend itself" against Iran without the United States.
In another instance, when asked directly if Israelis should give Netanyahu another term, he responded: "I can only say that I'm not involved in politics anymore." He then boasted about his popularity in Israel.
However, Trump also said that he "wouldn't underestimate Bibi," and that "people have written off Bibi many, many times, just like they've written off me many, many times."
When asked about Yashar party head Gadi Eisenkot, seen by many as the Netanyahu's main competition in the election, Trump said he wasn't sure whether he would work better with the former than the latter, despite reports of fallout between the prime minister and the president.
"Well, I don't know. I don't hear bad things about him," he said.
Trump also spoke at length about the war on Iran with Time.
He reaffirmed his statements from the UN, saying that "it's possible" to annihilate Iran.
When he was asked why, if he perceives himself as the president of peace, he would annihilate a country, he answered:
"Because by annihilating Iran, we've created peace in the world. With Iran, I don't think you could ever have peace."
Trump explained his reasoning for turning down a recent Iranian ceasefire proposal: "Things that I wouldn't have approved a year ago I wouldn’t have today," he said.
He added that he was considering ramping up bombing on Iran after the midterms, but refused to comment otherwise on his military plans for the Islamic Republic.